The Dangers Of Familial Love
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: Arielle Imega is the daughter of a long-dead Cross and a Nought who only thinks of revenge and equality. When the young girl meets her cousin, another mixed-race child with only one parent, they grow close quickly. As they learn about their families, they find out ugly truths. With that knowledge weighing on them, what is left to live for? AU What if Jude and Cara had a child?


**A/N: So I was rereading the series again, and I had this thought: "What if Jude and Cara were together longer...long enough to have a child?" Of course, I wanted Cara out of the way once the child was born, but I thought about it. If Jude still killed Cara after she'd given birth, if Sephy had still given him an alibi for Meggie's sake, if Jude had loved his daughter but still wanted to use her in his revenge plot...you can see where this is going.**

 **Plot: Arielle Imega knows very little about her past, being motherless and getting minimal information from her father. All she knows is that her father's real name is Jude McGregor, and her mother's name was Cara Imega, and that their relationship was laced with danger, due to racial barriers. One day, when she is nine years old, Jude finally takes her to meet a cousin she didn't even know she had. And that's when it all starts...**

 **Disclaimer: All rights and characters from the "Noughts and Crosses" series are owned by Malorie Blackman. Arielle is my creation.**

Prison wasn't a fun place. But then again, once you were out, it made you appreciate being free all the more. That was the first thought Jude McGregor had when he was let out of prison on good behaviour. His second thought was for Arielle.

 _They'll have to let me have her back now!_

Little Arielle. If there was one thing Jude regretted, it was when he came close to losing his heart to Cara Imega. They'd been together for a long time. And the first night they slept together managed to clinch it. Cara was pregnant.

Jude had only been dating her to get money, but once he knew she was carrying his child, he couldn't leave her. He couldn't stand to take Cara out, not yet. But nine months later, Arielle Samantha Imega was born.

Yes. Imega. Jude was still a fugitive, and he wasn't going to use a false name or risk his own name for his daughter. After he'd met his daughter at home, he'd slept with Cara one more time, before finally forcing himself to beat her within an inch of her life, then he ran out, taking Arielle with him.

Cara had been found in critical condition, and ended up dying in hospital. When Jude was identified as the man that had been dating Cara for a long time, he was apprehended, imprisoned, and Arielle was taken into care.

Thanks to Persephone "Sephy" Hadley giving him a false alibi, Jude had been declared Not Guilty. Of course, she hadn't done it to help him – she'd done it because she'd wanted to spare his mother pain.

And because his niece was her daughter, and she was living with her.

Still, Jude was still declared guilty of belonging to the Liberation Milita, a Nought organization that used acts of terrorism in order to promote equality between Noughts and Crosses. Peaceful protests hadn't worked. The freedom fighters of the L.M were determined to succeed where the peaceful protestors had failed. But because of all the terrorism, Jude was sentenced to two years in prison. But his good behaviour paid off, and he got released early.

Arielle was almost ten months old by this time, and showed no recognition when she saw her father again. But once she was back in his custody, Jude made up for every minute he hadn't been there for her. And every time he looked at her, a voice in his head reminded him how much his little girl had lost when Cara had died.

"You'll never lose any more time with me." he swore to the baby girl. "You're _my_ daughter, and you'll stay with me, no matter what."

Jude's number one law was broken by Arielle. He had several laws in life, and that was his most important one – _Never, ever allow yourself to feel. Feelings kill._ But he justified to himself that if it was his daughter, someone he could use in the future, someone he could groom to think the way he did, it wouldn't matter so much.

Not that all he wanted was to turn Arielle into another freedom fighter. Of course not. It was just lucky for him – Arielle may have been half-Cross, but she was still on the outside. If she had one ounce of Cara's belief that everyone was equal combined with his own determination to change the world, she'd be a valuable person to have on their side.

And, as he thought to himself, she was only ten months younger than Sephy's daughter. If he played his cards right, as long as he made sure Arielle was ready to befriend his niece the minute he decided to approach her, it would be almost too easy.

He debated one more thing. How much would he tell her about Cara? Would he talk about her at all? Of course, at some point Arielle would probably ask why she didn't have a mother, and why she was darker than him (in fact, her skin colour was closer to Cross than Nought). Then he'd probably tell her about Cara, and if he knew anything about little kids, he knew she'd ask more questions. He had a few photos of Cara, taken while she was pregnant but mostly before it started showing. There was only one thing he was sure about. He wouldn't let her know how Cara had died. If she pressed the subject, he would just tell her that Cara was in hospital for a while just after she was born.

And that led to a lot of other questions. What about the rest of his family? He knew Meggie, his own mother, would want to know her other grandchild...but would she trust him to be a good dad? He knew she wouldn't want him to get anywhere near his niece, but then again, this was _his_ daughter. He hadn't specifically threatened her mother with revenge via her child. Yeah, he decided, taking Arielle to see her grandmother wouldn't do any harm.

What about the rest of his family? Did Arielle need to know about the aunt and uncle that died before she was born? He didn't have to tell her how they died. Yes, he decided, she deserved to know about Lynette. And she needed to know about Callum. He wouldn't tell her about what happened until she was ready to join the cause herself, but there were lots of things he could tell her – Callum's personality, his intelligence, his quick mind...there was so much there, so that by the time he told her what Callum was hanged for, she'd feel so much like she knew him that she'd find avenging him reasonable.

At least, there was one thing that Jude was sure of about him and his daughter's future. As long as there was still breath in his lungs, no one would so much as lay a finger on Arielle. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her, or get into her head.

After all, guiding her, getting her to think a certain way...wasn't that the duty of a parent? Nothing would hurt her. Nor would anything stand between them.

Ever.

 **I know, a rather short and slow first chapter. This was just exposition. Next chapter, we'll jump.**


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